Press Releases


THE BALL IS BACK!…IT’S GOTTEN A NEW LOOK AND IT’S BACK TO STAY AS SIMMONS ICON & WIN THE HEARTS OF MANY!
Simmons Launches New Bowling Ball Advertising Campaign. Advertisements will reintroduce Simmons’ iconic bowling ball demonstration to illustrate the benefits of motion separation

SINGAPORE, April 14, 2006

Simmons (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd launches its new Simmons brand advertising campaign featuring the company’s famed 1995 bowling ball ad campaign, which set off a consumer craze for “the bowling ball mattress”. This follows the kick-start of the same campaign in the US in March 2006 at the Las Vegas Furniture Market. Simmons Company in Atlanta, USA decides to bring back the concept after conducting research among dealers, retail sales associates and consumers.

“In the US, dealers asked Simmons Company to bring back the bowling ball campaign because it simply illustrates the concept of motion separation, which diminishes the effects of an individual’s movement and helps prevent it from disturbing their partner’s sleep,” said Casey Teh, Director of Simmons (SEA) Pte Ltd. “The demonstration also helps consumers visualise the customised support our unique Pocketed Coil® design provides through its ability to conform to a person’s unique body shape.”

Simmons’ research in the US found that 56 percent of consumers surveyed still remember the 1995 bowling ball campaign, which showed an actor dressed in a lab coat dropping a bowling ball onto an open coil unit, then dropping the ball onto a Simmons® Pocketed Coil® unit. While the action knocked down ten bowling pins on the open coil unit, the pins on the Simmons mattress stayed upright.

Simmons’ new campaign includes elements of the bowling ball demonstration that were originally seen in the 1995 ad. The campaign’s television commercial, which began airing on 10 April 2006, focuses on Simmons’ development of Pocketed Coil® technology over 80 years ago and the company’s continued improvement of the design. Simmons attributes the lack of motion transfer in its Simmons mattresses to the fact that their Pocketed Coil® springs are encased in fabric pockets and are attached to each other in the middle, not on the top and bottom as in traditional innerspring designs.

“Each Pocketed Coil spring reacts independently to changes in weight and pressure, helping to provide individualised comfort and support,” said Rolf Sannes, Simmons Company, Beautyrest brand director in US. “Our new ad, which shows a model supported from head to toe on a Pocketed Coil® unit, makes it easy for consumers to understand this idea.” The new bowling ball campaign will consist of TV commercials, outdoor media such as Trivision at Specialist Shopping Centre, print advertisements, promotional advertisements with our retailers and dealers and prominent in-store displays.

All of the campaign elements were created by Simmons’ advertising agency, three, located in Atlanta. The firm’s CEO, Jackson Houk, and co-creative director, Brad Ramsey, also worked on the 1995 bowling ball campaign while employed at Simmons’ former ad agency, TuckerWayne. To suit local market consumers, the TV commercial and all campaign elements are adapted and edited by Caldecott Productions, MediaCorp and Ad-Triumph Pte Ltd. For additional information on Simmons new bowling ball campaign, please visit www.theballisback.com.

Maker of Beautyrest®, BackCare® and Connoisseur™, Atlanta-based Simmons Company entered the Singapore market in 1977. In Asia, the licence to manufacture, distribute and market Simmons is own by Simmons Japan Co., a full subsidiary of Nifco Group, a listed multinational company headquartered in Japan with a diverse business portfolio, which includes the Japan Times. Simmons (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd, which was set up in 1993, reports to Simmons Japan and is the headquarters to 19 countries in Asia.

Issued on behalf of:
Simmons (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd

Michelle Ng
Assistant Manager
Corporate & Marketing Communications
DID: 6290 9221
Email: michelle.ng@simmons.com.sg